RWBY: Infinity War
by RMVthewriter
Summary: The time is finally right. The Mad Queen, Salem, is now poised to control all six infinity relics and wipe out half the universe. Now, more than ever, Earth's mightiest heroes are needed to fight this threat. Do they have what it takes? Or will this be the Avenger's first and last defeat? (Avengers' universe with RWBY Characters) (NOT an Infinity War Rewrite). DISCONTINUED
1. Nora's Devastation

Drifting in space, the Asgardian ship was consistently hammered by blasts. There was no attempt to flee, there was no attempt to fight. The craft simply hung in the void, all hope lost.

The inside of the spaceship was not much better. Bodies littered the floor, men, women, and children alike. Those that were conscious enough to groan their pain aloud soon met their end at the sharpened point of a blade. There was no hope here. No life.

"Hear me, and rejoice! You have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Queen. The universal scales tip towards the balance because of your sacrifice." A pompous voice reassured his audience. The Ebony Maw- or as he was originally known, Arthur Watts- seemed human enough, but a second glance dispelled any traces of his humanity, his mercy. He was humanoid, yes, but his hands were marred with a pure black, which continued down his veins and found its home at his heart. "Smile… For even in death, you have become Children of Salem, you have become- The Grimm." Even as he offered these calming words, another cry was heard slightly farther along, another life extinguished.

Watts and his companions regrouped back to the center of the ship and turned their gaze unto their blessed Queen. Another stood in between- a somewhat lanky man with greasy black hair, dressed in greens and pinks- but he had yet to attack, and was left alone.

"I know what it's like to lose. To feel so desperately that you're right, yet to fail all the same." The Queen, dressed in her black and shining armour, turned away from the observatory window she'd been glancing out of and turned her attention to the worn out mess of an Asgardian lying next to her. Nora- daughter of Odin, Queen of Asgard, Goddess of Thunder, and _Avenger_\- was picked up by her scruff like she was nothing but a disobedient dog. "It's frightening. Everyone runs and hides. But I ask you, to what end?" The goddess of thunder in one hand, Salem turned to the lanky man and approached. "Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. And now, it's here. Or should I say… _I am_."

With this, the Queen's face finally entered the few functioning lights left. What was hidden in darkness, now revealed. Eyes, completely black save her red irises. Skin, a horrible pale white. And on her cheeks- only just revealed by her helm- streaks of the pure black, snaking their way down her face. Salem towered over him at somewhere near eight feet tall, as if she wasn't menacing enough. The Queen shifted her grip, now holding Nora by her head, and raised her left hand, which was covered in an impressive dark steel gauntlet that took up nearly her entire forearm and contained one glowing purple stone.

"You talk to much." The thunder goddess quipped weakly, a bit of blood dripping from her mouth. So much had changed since she first joined the Avengers. Not the least of which being the lack of her right eye, now covered by an eyepatch in the same vein as her father's. That, and her horribly short hair, which fell to just above her shoulders.

"The Relic of Space, or your lover's head. I assume you have a preference?" Salem demanded, putting her gauntlet to Nora's head. Lie Ren- the lanky man and said lover- glanced at Nora and smirked.

"Oh, certainly. Kill away!" Salem's eyebrows rose at this slightly. She had known of their lover's quarrel, but was unaware they actually sought each other's demise. No matter. A woman of her word, the Queen pressed the gauntlet into the goddess of thunder's head and the attached stone began to glow. The pain was unlike anything Nora had ever experienced before- and she had experienced _a lot_ of pain. No, this pain was entirely unique, eliciting a hoarse scream despite herself. As soon as Ren heard the cry of agony, he could no longer maintain the charade. "Alright, stop!" Salem did so, allowing the goddess of thunder to catch her breath.

"We don't have the Relic of Space, it was destroyed on Asgard!" Nora shouted with complete sincerity. Her eyes locked with Ren's, and he gave her that all too familiar apologetic smile. Dread pooled in her stomach as he held his hand out, revealing the glowing blue cube that was the Relic of Space. "You really are the worst sometimes, Renny." She sighed.

"Everything's going to be okay, Nora. I promise." Ren swore while advancing to the Queen, a false sense of humor in his voice.

"I admire your enthusiasm, Asgardian." Salem noted the way the two interacted. "But it is unfortunately misplaced." Suddenly, the lanky trickster god stopped approaching.

"Well, for one thing, I'm not Asgardian. And for another… We have a Hulk." Before the Queen could react, Ren dived for his lover, pulling her out of the way as a giant green mass smashed into Salem. The Relic of Space was dropped, but only Watts paid any mind.

Yang Xiao-Long, aka The Incredible Hulk, slammed into Salem with the force of a thousand bombs. Just shorter than Salem, the Hulk made up for it with pure muscle mass. Long black hair and a large, scantily covered bust smashed Salem into the side of the ship with only a few punches. Almost immediately afterwards, however, the tide began to change. In contrast to her slimmer appearance, the Queen was in no way lacking in strength. Prying the Hulk's hands off of her with nothing but her own might, Salem pushed the beast back and rocketed an uppercut to the stomach. The Hulk stumbled backwards and looked to Salem with something that none of Yang's previous opponents had ever seen- Fear. The onslaught continued, with Yang barely able to get a punch in while Salem wailed on her. Finally, after several hard blows, the Queen picked the Hulk up and threw her onto the deck of the ship, defeated.

Almost immediately afterwards, a metal bar was hit across Salem's face, courtesy of Nora. The attack was staggeringly ineffective, and the Queen returned the favor by front kicking her away, allowing her to be restrained in metal by the Maw. Once more, hope vanished from the ship.

But not from everyone. In the rubble of his people, one final holdout of hope remained. Fox, the blind guardian of Asgard. He had lived for thousands of years and seen empires rise and fall, all while he stood silently at the Vanguard of his people. That luxury had been given up long ago, however, as more recent events had forced the old man to actively protect his people once more- And now, one last time.

"Allfathers… Let the dark magic flow through me one last time…" Despite his apparently blindness, the dark skinned Asgardian could sense all around him with his godly abilities. Reaching to that unholy of magic once more, Fox summoned the Bifrost, guiding it to carry the Hulk away and to Earth- Asgard's last hope.

"That was a mistake." The Queen snarled, taking the weapon from one of her servants and plunging it into the watcher's heart. Fox flinched but said nothing more, staring defiantly at Salem even as the life drained from his eyes.

"No!" Nora shouted in anguish at the death of her friend. "You'll die for that!" More threats were on the tip of her tongue, but she was silenced by the Maw, who used his telekinesis powers to gag her. At the same time, Watts approached his master and kneeled, offering the Relic of Space to her.

"My humble personage bows before your might. No other being has ever had the strength- Nay! The _nobility_ to wield not one, but two Relics! The universe lies in your grasp." The Queen stripped off her armour as she stared at the cube in relative awe. Now dressed in a simple robe, she reached out.

Salem took the blue cube from her servent and crushed it in her fist. Fishing out a blue stone from the crumbs, the Queen set the stone in her gauntlet. Blue energy surged from the stone and through her body causing Salem to tense at the sheer power. The moment passed, however, and the Relic was firmly in her control.

"There are two more relics on Earth. Find them, my children, and bring them to me." The Queen commanded her three subjects, who bowed accordingly.

"If I might interject," Lie Ren emerged from behind the servants, seeming a little too happy. "If you're going to Earth, you might want a guide. And I happen to have experience in that area." He offered, much to his lover's dismay.

"If you count failure as experience." Salem noted, unimpressed. Ren glared.

"I consider _experience_, experience." He corrected, but soon continued on with the theatrics. "Almighty Salem! I, Lie Ren," Ren paused, giving a significant look to Nora. "King-Consort of Asgard, God of Mischief, do hereby declare to you, my undying fidelity." At that moment, the Goddess of Thunder noticed a dagger materialize in her lover's hand. Before anything more could be registered, Lie lashed out with the weapon- Only to be suddenly stopped by a glowing blue force.

"'Undying.' You should have chosen your words more carefully." Twisting the knife out of Ren's hand, Salem grabbed his neck with her gauntlet and began to squeeze. She lifted him off the ground to eye level as he slowly turned purple. The God of Mischief tried to fight back, but soon stopped exerting himself.

"You will… Never be… a god." He squeezed out before a ruthless crunching noise signalled the crushing of his neck. Salem then walked over to his lover and dropped him on the ground.

"No resurrections this time." The Queen commented. She raised her gauntlet and let out a purple wave of energy that rocked the barely standing ship, then a blue portal opened and took the Queen and her children in it, leaving nothing behind. As soon as the Maw was teleported away, Nora's restraints fell from her, allowing the thunder goddess to crawl over to her lover.

"No… Renny…" She mourned. They had finally come to an understanding, they were to finally be together! And then this. Tragedy. Undeserved tragedy. Even as the ship exploded, Nora could only think of one thing.

Salem would die by her hand.

There was no other option.

* * *

Back on Earth, the Sorceress Supreme, Glynda Goodwitch, was preparing to head out to buy some lunch.

"Seriously? You don't have any money?" She asked her faithful companion, Bolin Hori. While she was dressed in more casual clothes, her friend was still wearing his monk attire.

"Attachment to the material is detachment from the spiritual." He cited an ancient proverb, making Glynda snicker.

"I'll tell the guys at the deli. Maybe they'll make you a metaphysical ham on rye."

"Oh, wait, wait, wait! I think I have two hundred." Bolin corrected, pulling out a crumpled bill from his pocket.

"Dollars?"

"Rupees."

"Which is?" The Doctor pressed.

"Uh… A buck and a half?" Bolin guessed making Glynda sigh in exasperation.

"Fine. What do you want?"

"I wouldn't say no to a Tuna Melt." Bolin replied cheerfully. Their conversation came to a sudden end after that as a beam of rainbow light smashed through the ceiling and into staircase. Both sorcerers immediately prepared for battle as Glynda's cloak of levitation swirled around her shoulders. Peering into the hole in the stairs, they found no threat, but rather a young woman with long blonde hair and barely any clothes.

"Salem is coming…" The woman warned, out of breath. "She's coming…" Doctor Goodwitch looked to Bolin with equal amounts of confusion.

"Who?"

* * *

**Scenes from Nora: Ragnarok**

* * *

"What the Hel is this?" Nora remarked as she finally landed back on Asgard. Dressed in a flowing red cape, her beautiful orange hair fell to the middle of her back while her trusty hammer Magnhild rested in her hand. No normal being could lift the weapon, but- Well- She was no ordinary being.

When she spoke the goddess of thunder had been referring to the giant golden statue of Lie Ren that towered over the outside of the palace. However, the sentiment remained equally as valid when she followed the trail of people to its epicenter and discovered what awaited her.

"Oh, my love!" An actor dressed suspiciously like Ren called out, lying on the ground of the stage as 'Odin' watched on. "This is it, I take my leave."

"You fool, Ren, you didn't listen!" The actress most likely playing Nora cried.

"I'm so sorry that we could never unite ourselves in matrimony," Ren's doppelganger admitted. "I'm sorry that I tried to conquer Earth,"

"They would've been lucky to have you." Nora's impersonator supplied through faux tears.

"I'm sorry about that thing with the Relic of Space. I just couldn't help myself!"

"You _are_ the God of Mischief, even if you are clearly the more straight laced of us both."

"Yes, indeed…" 'Odin' agreed with the actors as he ate another grape from his lounge chair.

"But most of all, I'm sorry that I let you let politics get in the way of our love. King, Queen, King-Consort, Queen-Consort. It was just so silly." Actor Lie revealed. The actress Nora nodded in agreement.

"You're right, you're always right! I'm so sorry that I didn't recognize it sooner. _You_, Lie Ren, are clearly the rightful King of Asgard, and I, your Queen-Consort." The actor smiled at these words, as did 'Odin' in his seat.

"Tell my story- Oh, and make me a statue."

"I will tell Odin of your sacrifice." The fake Nora vowed.

"I didn't do it for him." 'Odin' whispered.

"I didn't do it for him…" The fake Lie Ren spoke with one final breath… And then, he was gone from this mortal coil. Just as it had been in real life- Or, as it _was_.

The Actress playing Nora let out a cry of agony as the crowd clapped. All the cast gathered to take a bow just as Nora announced herself.

"Father." The real Nora greeted tersely, causing 'Odin' to stumble out of his chair.

"Oh shit." He said under his breath before turning to the warrior woman. "Uh, my daughter, Nora, has returned everyone! It is a grand day!" The crowd cheered and Nora gestured over to the actors.

"That was an interesting play. What is it called?"

"'The Tragedy of Lie Ren of Asgard.' The people wanted to commemorate him and his sacrifice." Nora nodded in false contemplation.

"Do you know what this is?" She held up the giant skull she had enchained on her back.

"Well, that's the skull of Surtur. A formidable weapon!"

"Yes. And a key piece to Ragnarok, the destruction of our world, remember?" 'Odin' was taken aback by her accusatory words.

"Why, of course! A- And you have done a wonderful job in saving us. For that, you have my thanks. I assure you, of course, that all of Asgard remains vigilant at your side."

"Right… So why is it that as I traveled the nine realms, everywhere I found the enemies of Asgard assembling, plotting our demise, growing stronger with each and everyday?"

"I- I- Well, I'll have you know that I've been plenty busy myself. You know, board meetings, the security council…" Nora gave her 'father' a deadpan look.

"You're really going to make me do it, aren't you?"

"Do what?" 'Odin' asked. Before she responded, Nora chucked Magnhild a ways away and grabbed 'Odin' by the back of the head.

"You know that nothing will stop Magnhild from returning to my hand. Even your _face_."

"Y- You've gone mad! You wouldn't dare!" 'Odin' cried in protest.

"Oh I certainly would," Nora whispered into his ear. "Renny."

"Alright, I yield!" The disguise dropped with a magical green glow and the 'hero' himself, Lie Ren, spun out of the way of Magnhild's path. The crowd react in shock and Ren gave a half hearted smile to them. "Hello…" He tried to casually walk away, but was yanked back by his lover.

"Where is Odin? Did you kill him?" Nora interrogated. Ren didn't seem too excited to answer, though.

"You know I hate that name, why do you insist on referring to me as such?" Nora's grip only tightened.

"You should be damn grateful I didn't kill you when I had the chance for what you did to me. Dying! Again!" The lovers met eye to eye and Ren could easily make out the building presence of tears in his partner's. "I mourned you…" She said, much quieter.

"Fine. I'll take you to Odin, just- Just don't cry!" The god of mischief caved, unable to look at his lover's depressing visage any longer.

* * *

It took five minutes and some help from a local sorceress, but Nora and Ren eventually tracked down Odin once more. The home of the Vikings, Norway.

"Father?" Nora called out to the old man who simply stared out into the sea.

"Look at this place. It's beautiful." Odin remarked, barely noticing his daughter.

"We've come to take you home."

"Home…" The King of Asgard pondered as the pair of lovers approached closer. "Yes, your mother calls me. Do you hear it?"

"Renny, lift your magic!" The daughter of Odin accused. Ren held his hands up in innocence.

"Heh. Took me quite a while to break free from your spell." Odin commented. "Your mother would have been proud, my ward." He finally glanced over to each of them. "Come sit with me, I don't have much time." They all sat together on a nearby log, and the King of Asgard continued to look out onto the ocean.

"I know we failed you, but we can still make this right." Nora vowed. Odin shook his head.

"I failed you. Ragnarok is upon us."

"No, I stopped Ragnarok. I put an end to Surtur."

"No. It has already begun. She's coming. My life was all that held her back. But my time has come. I cannot keep her away any longer." Both Nora and Ren remained confused.

"Who are you talking about?" Ren inquired.

"The Goddess of Death. Neon. My first born, your sister." Odin supplied, looking to Nora. "Her violent appetites grew beyond my control. I couldn't stop her so I locked her away. She draws her power from Asgard and once she gets there, her powers will be limitless."

"Whatever she is, we can stop her. We can face her together." Nora offered her father.

"No. I'm on a different path now. You must face this alone. I'm sorry, and I love you." He looked to Ren. "Both of you. Remember this place, home."

At this, Odin closed his eyes and positioned himself towards the water. Slowly, his body turned a glowing gold and became dust, which was then carried away by the wind.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Lie Ren gave his condolences as they stood.

"This was your doing." She accused with a mix of anger and sorrow.

Before the situation escalated any further, however, a multicolored portal opened and a figure stepped out. The person was slim, extenuated by her figure-tight outfit and the way she practically pranced out of the portal, a wicked smile on her face.

"So he's gone. That's a shame." She announced, a fake frown appearing before being suddenly replaced again. "I would have liked to see that." The woman had bright orange hair like Nora, but it appeared much sleeker and shinier- almost greasy, even. If not for the outfit, a single glance to the woman might have one thinking she was an innocent, playful girl. But the power she exuded told an entirely different story.

"You must be Neon. I am Nora, daughter of Odin." Nora warily introduced herself as she and her lover changed into their battle clothes, holding Magnhild at the ready.

"Hm. The family resemblance is certainly there." Neon staged,

"Perhaps we can come to an arrangement." Lie stepped forward, immediately starting his scheming. Neon was having none of it.

"Yes, of course. _Kneel_." The woman agreed, the almost crazed smile never dropping from her face.

"Beg your pardon?" Neon's smile only grew wider at that response, a rainbow colored blade appearing in her hands.

"_Kneel_. Before your Queen." Both Ren and Nora scowled at this. The question of who would rule Asgard had long been in debate, but either side could agree; It certainly wouldn't be _her_.

"Yeah, I don't think so." With that, Nora launched Magnhild at her sister's face, only for said sister to catch the weapon with one hand. "That's- That's not possible!" Neon's crazed smile reflected in her eyes at these words.

"Oh sister. You have _no idea_ what's possible." Still keeping the weapon at bay with one hand, Neon clamped down of Magnhild, causing the Hammer to shatter to pieces.

Needless to say, things went downhill from there.

* * *

Only a few days later, so much had changed. For one, Neon was on Asgard, gaining power by the second while trying to hunt down Fox and his group. At the same time, Nora and Ren had ended up on some stupid trash planet where Nora's beautiful hair had been cut and she'd been forced to fight in the planet's arena. Of course, the upside from this arrangement showed itself when her long time ally, Yang Xiao-Long, also happened to be fighting in this arena. With the help of her alter ego, Hulk, Nora had officially started a revolution and was in the process of procuring herself a ship to go save Asgard once more. Now, as she waited with her lover in an elevator, a long time coming conversation had finally arrived.

"We need to talk." Nora started.

"I disagree." Ren responded immediately. "'Talk' has never been the defining point of our relationship, it's always been action."

"Well, that's what I want to talk about." Nora explained, making Lie freeze up. A talk about their relationship? Surely she wasn't saying what he thought she was. Better to play it safe, regardless.

"Oh, right, of course. What is it?"

"You made me think you died. _Again_."

"What? _That_? Oh that was just a joke! You know me, the God of Mischief and all that." Ren gave his excuses. The goddess of Thunder turned around, looking out into the world beyond.

"Just a joke? So would you feel nothing if I died?" She inquired, somberness overtaking her tone.

"I-" The former enemy of the Avengers tried to come up with a response, but found he had none.

"I think you should stay here in Sakaar." Nora finally broke the silence.

"Are you… Breaking up with me?"

"Don't be like that, this place is perfect for you! Savage, chaotic, lawless. I think you'd be better off here." She tried to cheer her lover up.

"You _are_ breaking up with me!" He realized. "What happened to our oath? That we'd be the only ones for each other?"

"I'm not saying I'll be with anyone _else_, I'm just saying that…" Nora paused, internally studying the implications of her next sentence. "I can't be with you. Not anymore." Lie refused to respond, pressing Nora to say more. "Maybe one day we'll meet again and finally marry, But right now… We're simply incompatible. Surely you feel it too."

"I… Suppose so." Ren relented. The Avenger clasped her lover on the shoulder with a small smile.

"That's the spirit." Suddenly, her smile grew. "Hey, let's do 'Get Help.'"

"What?"

"'Get Help.'"

"Oh no. Absolutely not, it's humiliating!"

* * *

Despite his protests, they ended up doing 'Get Help.' They also went through the normally routine of Ren trying to betray Nora, though it didn't end as the God of Mischief hoped. Instead, Nora had left her former lover spazzing on the floor as she acquired and flew her mottled crew- The Revengers- to Asgard.

Once back in Asgard, things didn't seem to go so well. Neon was still vastly more powerful than Nora was, and her undead army smashed into the civilians that Fox was protecting. The Hulk was there to help, but all and all, the mission was turning out to be a failure- Especially when Neon cut out her left eye.

That was, until Renny made an appearance. With an apparent change of heart, the trickster God arrived to save the people of Asgard, bringing along a small army of gladiators with him. Seeing this, Nora once more felt the spark of love that she use to feel for Ren and unlocked her thunder powers to bring down a massive lightning strike on Neon. It was… Awesome.

Unfortunately, even the largest lightning blast in the world did nothing to stop Neon's wrath. Instead, Nora devised a crazy plan involving the skull of Surtur. Having Ren place Surtur's skull in the hearth of Asgard, Ragnarok official began with Neon as the only Asgardian casualty. The rest of the Asgardians and the gladiators fled on Lie's ship as they watched their home explode.

The loss of Asgard was a shame, but soon they would arrive on Earth, and everything would get better from there.

"Do you really think returning to Earth is a good idea?" The God of Mischief asked his lover.

"Of course, I am extremely popular there." The Goddess of Thunder quipped.

"Let me rephrase that. Do you think it's a good idea for _me _to go back there?"

"Perhaps not. But as the Queen of Asgard, I can vouch for you." Nora promised, ignited the old rivalry of their once again.

"Queen-_Consort_, I believe. The jury is still not out on that one."

"Tell me, Renny. Who was the one sitting in the throne just a while ago?"

"That was a pilot's seat. And you tell me, who was the one who saved everyone's life while you went on your suicide mission?" Ren rebutted, making Nora smirk.

"Touche, Renny." There was a comfortable silence between them before Lie spoke up, hesitance in his voice.

"So… Does this mean we're back together again?" He held his hands behind his back in opposition to his normal confidence as he gazed at anywhere but her. Instead of responding, Nora entered Ren's personal space and used her hand on his cheek to make him look at her. Leaning in close, the two lover's were about to-

A shadow covered their faces. A shadow. In _space_. Turning to the viewport they had been ignoring, the lover's witnessed a massive ship overcoming their's.

Salem was here.

* * *

**And that was the first part of RWBY: Infinity War, along with Scenes from Nora: Ragnarok. This is my newest project that came about after my rewatching of Infinity War because of the End Game hype. This won't simply be a reskinned telling of Infinity War, as you may have already guessed from Loki and Thor being lover's in the form of Nora and Ren. And do you know what that means?**

**You don't know the ending! That's right, you have no idea whether this story will have a happy or sad ending. You also don't know if I will change any character moments. And I have _a lot_ planned. Hopefully, this makes you more inclined to read the story than otherwise, but if not, might I suggest my other ongoing story of _New Game Plus_. It's a RWBY story, but if you enjoy my writing style, you may enjoy it.**

**All reviews are appreciated, and until next time,**

**-RMV**


	2. Watts' Visit

"Yang, MIA. Nora, MIA. Sun, retired. Blake, gone rouge. Jaune…" Ruby Rose recounted to herself the state of the Avengers. "Sky, gone rogue. Ciel, crippled. Weiss, gone rouge. Penny, missing. And… That's it." Billionaire, playgirl, philanthropist, Iron Man. _She_ was Earth's last Avenger.

There was no one less deserving.

"He told me things would be different, that I would be a part of something." For a while, Ironwood hadn't been lying. Ruby had spent six years of her life as an Avenger, and those six years proved to be both the best and worst years of her life. Even still, she wouldn't trade it for the world. "But I'm always destined to be alone in the end…"

The New Yorkers passing by her as she strolled through Central Park didn't even bat an eye at the superhero ramblings to herself. Ruby knew how the news portrayed her these days, 'off her rocker,' 'out of control.' Didn't they know that she was the only one keeping them from the brink of collapse?!

No, they didn't. The activities of the Avengers were public, yet it was a thankless job nonetheless. Those people- those innocent civilians on the sidelines- they took the protection as a given. Like the Avengers owed them something. What the hell did Ruby Rose owe the world that the world didn't already owe to her?!

"We fight to protect those who can't protect themselves because no one else will." She calmed herself with Jaune's words. He had betrayed her, and that… That wound still burned. But when they _were_ side by side, he had been the paragon of virtue which she strived to emulate.

Before the Avenger's mental conundrum could continue any further, an orange portal opened before her and a blond witch walked through.

"Ruby Rose, I'm Doctor Glynda Goodwitch. I need you to come with me." Goodwitch requested.

"What are you, handing out tickets or something?" Ruby instantly responded with her classic snark, about ready to kick ass if necessary.

"We need your help. Look, it's not overselling it to say the fate of the universe is at stake." Glynda ignored the jab at her outfit.

"And who's we?"

"Hey, Ruby." Yang Xiao-Long greeted, coming out from behind the witch. Ruby's eyes widened.

"Yang… I- Uh- You okay?" She asked carefully. Yang had been the sister she never had. They went to the same prestigious school growing up, always having each other to confide in. When Ruby's mother died, she transferred to another school and they lost contact for a while. But when they reunited in the SHIELD Helicarrier, they lost no time rekindling the friendship they'd lost.

Yang didn't respond. Instead, she embraced Ruby in a desperate hug. One that Ruby was all too happy to return.

* * *

"At the dawn of the universe, there were the brothers and nothing else." Bolin explained to his audience back at the sanctuary. "Then, boom! The Big Bang caused by their quarrel sent six elemental crystals hurtling across the universe. These Infinity Relics each control an essential aspect of existence." The visual representation help Ruby understand things better, though she had to hold her tongue at the mention of the 'brothers.' Now was not the time to talk religion.

"Space, reality, power, soul, mind…" Doctor Goodwitch lit up the relics as they appeared in the illusion. "And time." As she said this, the amulet on her chest swirled open, revealing a green stone similar to the others.

"Tell me her name again." Ruby Rose requested, enraptured.

"_Salem_." Yang pressed, sending a shiver down the mechanized hero's spine. "She's a nightmare, Rubes. She invaded planets, takes what she wants, then kills half the population!" The matter of urgency in her voice was great now, as if the blond didn't think Ruby understood the stakes. "_She_ sent Ren. The attack on New York, that's _her_." Rose sucked in a breath.

"This is it…" She said to herself, referring to the visions that had plagued her thoughts for the last six years. There was no time to think about the now, though. "What's our timeline?"

"There's no telling." Yang confessed. "She already has the Power and Space Relics. And that already makes her the strongest being in the universe. If she gets her hands on all six… Ruby…"

"She could destroy life on a scale previously unheard of."

"Right… It's time…" Ruby mumbled, leaning on a cauldron to stretch out her legs.

"Stop leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos." The Doctor ordered.

"Is that what this is...?" The Rose said offhandedly. Her stretching was interrupted by the good doctor's cloak, smacking her off the cauldron. Instantly, she turned to the magic user, a serious look on her face. "I'm going to allow that, but _only_ because of the current situation. Now, if Salem needs all six, why don't we just throw this one in the garbage disposal?"

"The relic stays with me." Glynda put her foot down.

"Fine, you can go along with it." Ruby retorted. Bolin interceded.

"We swore an oath to protect the relic of time. Our oath cannot change." The monk explained, coming between the two powerful women.

"This Relic may be our best chance against Salem." Goodwitch continued.

"Yeah, and it may be her best chance against _us_." Ruby criticized.

"Guys, can we table this discussion for now?" Yang interceded. "The fact is, we have the relic. We know where it is. Penny is out there with the relic of mind, and we need to find him _now_."

"About that…" Ruby shifted, a conflicted look on her face.

"What? What is it?"

"Two weeks ago, Penny turned off her transponder. She's off the grid."

"Wait what?! Ruby, you lost another super bot?" The seven PhD holder balked.

"I didn't _lose_ her. She's more than that, she's evolving." The genius inventor responded.

"Who can find Penny, then?" Glynda chimed in.

"…" Ruby's expression grew sour.

"Ruby, _who_?" Yang pushed.

"…Jaune. Jaune Arc would know."

"Damnit." The Doctor cursed.

"Alright. Call him." The former rage monster gave a simple solution. Ruby gave a pitiful chuckle, lacking any humor in it whatsoever. "What's wrong?"

"Cap and I… We broke up." The Leader of the Avengers revealed. Yang's eyes widened in shock at the news, but she gained a look of determination right afterwards.

"Look, Rubes, I'm sorry to hear that. Truly, I am. But Salem? She's threatening the entire universe! You can't let one break up get in the way of this." Ruby shook her head at Yang's naivety.

"God, it's been a while, hasn't it?" The genius said more to herself. "No, when I said we broke up, I mean we _broke_ up. Fists swinging, lasers blasting. The Avengers? They're toast, done. Jaune and I… We're not on speaking terms, to say the least."

"Ruby, listen to me." Yang pleaded one last time. "Nora is _gone_. Salem is _coming_. It doesn't matter who you're talking to or not."

The words stuck to Ruby something fierce. Did Yang really think she didn't _want_ to contact Jaune? No, she'd been playing with the flip phone he gave her ever since she received it in the mail. But… How would he respond? Disappoint at what she'd tried to do to Pyrrha? Happiness at the fact that she finally called him again? Ruby wasn't sure which was worse, but she knew she couldn't stand to hear either.

A faint rumbling stopped the inventor from having to make a choice. The Rose looked back over to her companions.

"Say, Doc, you wouldn't happen to be moving your hair magically, would you?" Ruby gestured the the sorcerer's flowing locks.

"Not at the moment, no." Glynda glanced at her own hair, which was indeed moving in the wind. Looking through the Hulk-sized hole in the ceiling, all four heroes noted the debris that flew past with the wind.

Without a word, Ruby Rose barged out the front door to an absolute commotion, quickly followed by the remaining three. Cars were already tangled along the road, most people deciding to abandon their vehicles altogether. A mass exodus of people came from further along, marking the direction Ruby herself would take.

"S.U.M.M.E.R., what am I looking at?" Ruby Rose asked her AI after helping some people along the way.

"Not sure, I'm working on it." The AI responded. It wasn't nearly as advanced as P.E.N.N.Y. had been, but it got the job done nonetheless.

"Hey, Doc! You might want to chuck that Time Relic now!" The billionaire shouted through the wind.

"Might want to use it." Glynda insisted anyway. A vicious hum grew louder as they approached the source of the chaos, finally coming to a culmination as the spotted a giant discus ship floating over the street.

No doubt about it. Those dreams that had been plaguing her, those visions and prophecies, they started here.

The beginning of the end.

* * *

Meanwhile, on a school bus headed out of the city, the hairs on a young boy's arm stood. Oscar Pine, also known as Spider-Man, instantly looked up and out the window the the current threat. The boy had already committed his life to being a hero. Now was his time to prove it.

"Ned, hey." He tapped his best friend and 'man in the chair.' "I need you to cause a distraction." At Oscar's prodding, Ned turned around and caught sight of the giant ship in the distance.

"Holy shit! We're all gonna die! There's a spaceship!" Ned yelled, scrambling to get a better look. Of course, the rest of the students quickly followed his lead, leaving Oscar open for business.

Jumping out the emergency exit window on the opposite end of the bus, Oscar Pine used his web slingers to propel himself through the air, suiting up in the process.

Today was the day he'd finally prove himself to Ms. Rose. He _knew _it.

* * *

"S.U.M.M.E.R., evacuate anyone south of 43rd Street, notify first responders." Ruby Rose ordered her AI helper.

"Will do." S.U.M.M.E.R. responded. At the same time Doctor Goodwitch summoned some purple magic glyphs, containing the wind caused by the spaceship. Despite herself, Ruby was impressed for a small moment.

A bright light beamed down from the ship above, and two humanoid figures made their entrance. The Ebony Maw, Arthur Watts, stood side by side with another f Salem's henchmen. The hulking monstrosity Cull Obsidian, once known as Hazel Reinhardt, a giant axe in hand. Like Arthur, Hazel's body had been morphed by the blackened blood that flowed through his veins, enlarging his muscles which were covered in a plate armour.

Instantly, the Maw began to speak.

"Hear me, and rejoice. You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Salem. Be thankful that your meaningless lives are finally contributing to-"

"I'm sorry, Earth is closed today. You better pack it up and get out of here." Ruby cut in with her classic defiance. Watts tilted his head at her and turned to Glynda.

"Stonekeeper, does this chittering animal speak for you?" He asked the Doctor.

"I speak for myself, but her words ring true." Goodwitch confirmed, hands igniting with magical energy. "You are trespassing in this city and on this planet."

"It means get lost, goth-boy!" Rose added, never taking an insult lying down.

"She exhausts me." The Ebony Maw spoke to his companion.

"Indeed." Hazel concurred with a deep voice.

"Bring me the relic." The Maw then ordered.

"As you wish." Cull Obsidian began walking towards them, his giant axe dragging along the ground and bringing up the asphalt.

"You take big and I'll take ugly, yeah?" Ruby asked her pseudo-sister. Yang nodded her agreement and started concentrating on her transformation. She'd done it thousands of times before- most, not by her own will- but right now… It just wasn't coming to her. She got her neck to turn green, but the effort took too much out of her to go the full mile. "It's good to have you back, Yang." Ruby chimed in.

"I just… I need to concentrate for a second." The seven PhD holder flexed all her muscles and tried to get as angry as possible… But it just wasn't working! "Come on, come on!"

"What's happening, where's the Hulk?" Ruby chimed in a second time.

"I- I don't know. We've been having a 'thing' lately."

"Is this about the clothes thing again? Because I promise that your shirt always stays on when you go green… Somehow."

"No no, it's not the clothes thing. Let me try-" She cut herself off, grunting and making a face of extreme exertion, but to no avail. From the sidelines, Glynda looked to Ruby with disbelief.

"You're embarrassing me in front of the wizards." The billionaire hissed in a not quite serious tone, trying to hopefully get something out of Yang.

"I'm sorry, Rubes. Either I can't or he won't or-" Xiao-Long tried to make her excuses. Ruby just shook them off.

"That's alright, just stand down. I'll take care of this one." Looking to Bolin, who was also prepared with magic. "Could you keep an eye on her, thanks."

"I've got her." Bolin nodded.

"Damn it." Yang cursed to herself, feeling useless.

Stepping forward and ridding herself of the sunglasses she'd been wearing, Ruby Rose was able to finally suit up into her trademarked Iron Man armour.

And speaking of 'Iron Man,' Ruby didn't choose that name herself. That was all the media's doing. First of all, the suit was comprised of a Silver-Titanium Alloy, so she should really be called 'Silver Man.' And second of all, she was a _woman_, so 'Silver Woman' made the most sense of anything- Not that she could fault the media for thinking she was a man as the suit was rather masculine in design. She just wished she came out as a superhero before 'Iron Man' caught on.

Back to reality, she tightened the tracksuit around her and tapped the Arc Reactor- of course it was an 'Arc' reactor- in her chest. The nanoparticles being stored there spread out over her body, coating her in the all new Mark 50 Iron Man suit. After Jaune… Broke up with her, she really had nothing better to do than to focus on perfecting her tech. And the Mark 50 certainly was the ultimate perfection of Iron Man.

This claim was proven when Ruby formed two giant blasters on her hands with just a though, using her targeting system to lock on and fire at the approaching beast. Cull Obsidian was throw backwards toward the Maw, who made a gesture and deflected the alien into some cars, moving forward himself.

"Where did that come from?!" Yang questioned from behind.

"It's nano-tech. I've had some time on my-" The billionaire superhero was cut off when a spike of earth launched her into the air. Watts, who was behind this attack, continued the onslaught by throwing debris from the sidewalk- trees and postboxes and such- at the remaining heroes, though the attack was stopped by a shield from Bolin.

"Dr. Xiao-Long, if your green ego won't be joining us…" Doctor Goodwitch said. At the same time, she opened a portal right under the blond, dropping her and half of a nearby taxi into the park behind them.

Up above, Ruby rejoined the fight by throwing an entire car at the Maw. The alien simply cut the car in half, smirking as he did so.

"Get that stone out of here, _now_." Iron Man ordered the Sorceress Supreme.

"It stays with _me_." Glynda insisted.

"Fine then." Ruby dismissed, flying toward Ebony Maw until her flight was cut short by Hazel's Axe smashing her all the way to the park and into a tree. Conveniently, the hero right next to Yang.

"Rubes, are you okay? How are we doing, are we winning?" The shapeshifter interrogated rapidly.

"Yeah, we're winning. _Really_ showing them what for." The inventor commented sarcastically. "Any luck with the Hulk?" She then asked, significantly less rude.

"I'm trying, but she won't come out."

"Axe!" The Rose responded, pushing her pseudo-sister out of the way of the incoming armament. Iron Man responded to the attack with an energy beam that Hazel easily deflected into a nearby tree, which was barely dodged by Yang.

"Come on, Hulk. Where are you? Come out, come out!" Yang climbed out from under the branches, slapping her face.

"No!" Yang's face partially transformed into her green counterpart and responded with vigor.

"What do you mean, 'no?!'" Xiao-Long shouted indignantly.

Meanwhile, the last Avenger wasn't doing too hot. Knocked to the ground by Cull Obsidian, Ruby raises her hand to try and block the decisive blow- Only for that blow to never come.

"Hey, what's up, Ms. Rose?" Oscar Pine, the Spider-Man, greeted, having caught the alien's axe with ease.

"Kid, where you come from?" Ruby Rose asked her protégé. She had been the last Avenger, maybe, but certainly not the Earth's last hope. With her guidance- and even without it- Oscar was turning into a far better hero than she had ever been.

Of course, she would never say as such- Didn't want the compliments to go to his head. Arrogance was her vice, it didn't have to be his as well.

"I was going on a field trip to 'MoMA.'" Oscar explained quickly before Reinhardt threw him to the side to continue the fight. "What's this guy's problem, Ms. Rose?"

"Uh, he's from space. He came here to steal a necklace from a witch." Ruby tried to give the long and short of it without distracting herself from the fight at hand.

* * *

Said witch was currently dealing with Arthur Watts, who continued to be a nuisance. The space wizard lifted several of the scattered around bricks into the air and sharpened then to a point. The Maw then launched the spinning projectiles at the magical pair, who opened two portal in response.

In Bolin's portal and out of Glynda's, Arthur's creations were hurtled back at him with the same amount of force. Arthur brought a car up in front of him to be used as a shield, but one got through, cutting through the side of his head.

The Maw snarled at this and reached out with his magic behind both Earth Magicians. A fire hydrant was knocked loose, and the stream of water slammed into Bolin, sending into a building, unconscious.

Seeing her partner go down, Doctor Goodwitch stepped things up a notch, summoning a magical whip that she used to bind the alien's hands together. As she yanked him towards her, though, the Maw leaned into the attack, flying forward and slamming the Doctor against a building. Before she could respond, Arthur used the bricks of the building to trap her arms and legs, pinning her upside down against the wall.

"You powers are quaint. You must be popular with children." Ebony Maw jokes, grabbing the amulet which held the Relic of Time. Instantly, he had to let go as an enchantment of the amulet burnt his hand.

"A simple spell, but quite unbreakable." Glynda affirmed, making Arthur snarl.

"Then I'll take it if your corpse." Cables snaked their way around her throat by the Maw's guidance, and the Doctor began to choke.

"You'll find- removing a dead woman's spell- hrk- troublesome…" Ebony Maw smiled wickedly.

"You'll only wish you were dead." Using a part of the wall as a stretcher, the Maw started levitating Doctor Goodwitch back to his ship. That is- until the Cloak of Levitation pulled out from under the restraints, taking the unconscious sorceress with it. "No!"

Back at the park, Oscar and Ruby continued to fight Hazel. The battle seemed to be turning in their favor, but when the Doctor's unconscious body flew by, a change of plans was needed.

"That's the wizard, kid. Get on it."

"On it!" Spider-Man did his duty and started chasing after Watts, who was chasing after Goodwitch. The chase continued at a fairly even pace for a few moments, but things turned for the worse when the Maw was able to nail the Superhero chaser with a billboard.

He then telekinetically bent the streetlights on the road to finally snag the Cloak carrying Goodwitch. Her unconscious body flew in the air before finally being caught by Oscar just in the nick of time. Unfortunately, the spider hero wasn't fast enough to get away with the body. Instead, the body was caught in a ray of blue light emanating from the donut ship up above. Oscar tried to fight the beam pulling on him and his cargo by grabbing onto a pole, but Arthur simply uprooted the fixture, sending Glynda, her Cloak, and Oscar towards his ship.

"Uhh, Ms. Rose? I'm being beamed up!"

"Hang on, kid." Ruby responded over the transponder, still fighting Hazel back at the park. Distracted by the call for help, she was finally caught by one of the alien's axe blows, shorting out her suit and pinning her to the ground.

Cull Obsidian jumped towards her with the intent to end the battle once and for all, but instead jumped straight through a portal to a snowy landscape. Confused, Hazel quickly tried to make his way back through the portal, but in a quick motion, only his hand made it all the way through. Passing Bolin, who created the portal, and lading in front of Yang, who kicked it with disgust.

"Bolin, I'm gonna buy you a car." Iron Man promised the monk, ripping out the axe from her suit and flying towards the alien ship. "S.U.M.M.E.R., give me a little juice." She ordered, having her foot rockets join together into one giant jet engine, rocketing her towards the sky.

Back on his ship, Arthur Watts smirked victoriously while tending to the controls, having his prized Doctor and amulet right behind him.

"Unlock 17-A." The billionaire inventor commanded again, causing a pod to launch from the Avenger's headquarters in upstate New York and rocker towards their location. "Oscar, you gotta let go. I'm gonna catch you." She ordered with a much lighter tone.

"But you said- Save the witch!" The teenager gasped out, pulling off his mask. The boy was currently clutching the side of the spaceship, which was entering the upper atmosphere. "I can't breathe!" He noted.

"You're too high up, you're running out of air." She explained.

"Oh yeah, that makes sense." Spider-Man commented before instantly passing out and falling back down to earth. Before getting too far, the pod from the headquarters met with him in midair, unveiling the Iron Spider suit Ruby had once made for the kid. Now able to breath once more, Oscar awoke and landed on the bottom of the ship as heroically as possible.

"Ms. Rose, it smells like a new car in here!" He noted, ruining the moment.

"Happy trails, kid. S.U.M.M.E.R., send him home." Ruby Rose stated.

"On it." The AI agreed, remotely deploying Spider-Man's parachute, causing him to hurtle back towards Earth.

"Oh come on!" Oscar yelled indignantly.

Latching onto the ship, Iron Man cut a hole through it and entered. The entrance sealed right behind her and she ringed her helmet.

No one called for her. She was alone…

But not as alone as she might've thought.

Back outside the ship, Oscar managed to use his web slingers to climb back on board, hiding out in one of the many closing entrances in the side.

"I should have stayed on the bus…" he noted prophetically as Watts engaged the ship's engines, rocketing them all of into hyperspace.

* * *

Back in Earth, Yang was seen rummaging around the wreckage when she spotted something she recognized. Ruby's flip-phone, the one she would have called Jaune with. The Doctor of gamma radiation picked up the device as Bolin started entering a portal to her left.

"Where are you going?" The blond wondered.

"The Relic of Time has been taken and the Sanctum remains unguarded. I must do my duty now. What will you do?" The monk answered.

"I'm… gonna make a call." The monk nodded in understanding and Yang made her way through the menus to Jaune's number.

On the other side of the world, the phone rang.

* * *

**Scene from: Captain America: Civil War**

* * *

The calm Siberian wastes we're suddenly disturbed by the landing of a Quinjet into the ice. This had not been the first vehicle to disrupt the peace, judging by the caterpillar truck that the jet had landed beside.

Before the occupants got off board, Pyrrha Nikos, the Winter Soldier, armed herself with one of the jet's many stores light machine guns.

"You remember that time we had to ride back from Rockaway Beach in the back of that freezer truck?" Jaune Arc, The Captain America, joked with his long time friend and war companion.

"Was that the time we used our train money to buy hot dogs?" Pyrrha tried to recollect the situation as they made their way down the exit ramp. Her enhanced metal arm shone in the Siberian sun.

"You blew three bucks trying to win a stuffed bear for me. That, and I think you overheard some jerks saying that you couldn't do it." Jaune corrected. For a moment, he was able to think back, before the war. Back to a much simpler time when they were dating and didn't have any superpowers.

Of course, both of them were dead set on fighting the Nazis, so it could have never lasted.

"Those idiots have got to be a hundred years old right now." Jaune clasped her shoulder in understanding.

"So are we, Pyr." With this, he equipped his helmet and arrived at their destination. Dig into sheer stone, the inconspicuous door was swinging openly in the breeze. "He can't have been here more than a few hours."

"Long enough to wake them up." Pyrrha warned. Her time as the Winter Soldier had been rough, but her memories of Hydra's new super soldiers were some of the worst. Just the thought that those monsters could be set out into the world, and _she _would be partially responsible for their creation, made her skin crawl with nerves.

She had never gotten nervous on a mission before. This was the first.

The pair traveled further into the Maxi bunker, past all the crazed experiments, until finally reaching the doors to the facility. Opening those revealed a slightly longer hallway with more heavy duty closed doors on the far side. Perfect for a trap.

Jaune and Pyrrha took up points on either side of hallway and crept down it, being sure to close the doors behind them for some more protection. The managed to reach the opposing doors without resistance, but were stopped short of opening them when the doors that they left from started banging.

Instantly, they each took up battle positions.

"You ready?" Jaune checked on his friend.

"Yeah." Pyrrha assured, finally suppressing her nerves to fight.

The metal doors continued to be banged upon until finally, they were forced open by a figure neither hero thought they would see. Iron Man. Jaune stared in surprise as Ruby Rose walked over to both World War Two veterans and retracted her helmet.

"Hey hun. Still with _her_, I see." Ruby greeted her boyfriend, giving Pyrrha a glare. Having a relationship with another super hero was tough- especially for the romantically inept Ruby Rose. But when your partner's former girlfriend came back from the grave as a brainwashed super soldier, having never formally broken up with him? Well, that made things a whole lot more complicated.

"Ruby, she's innocent. She didn't bomb the UN building and-" The Arc started, instantly playing right into his White Knight persona. Subconsciously, he Ren brought up his shield to stand in between the two women.

"I believe you." The billionaire responded simply, cutting him off. "You seem a little defensive." She joked.

"It's been a long day." Jaune replied with a small smile, appreciating the brief moment of levity. "So if your not here for Pyrrha, why _are_ you here?" Ruby shrugged.

"Could be your super soldier story isn't so crazy. Maybe. But Port has no idea I'm here, and I'd like to keep it that way. Otherwise, I have to arrest myself."

"Sounds like a lot of paperwork." The Captain quipped, lowering his shield. "I'm happy to see you, Ruby." He spoke as genuinely as he could.

"You too, Jaune." The Rose replied, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. While she would have loved to fully embrace him in that moment, finally no longer on opposing sides of a legal battle, they had more important things to be attending to. Finally, Ruby deigned her attention back to Nikos, who continued to point a gun at her. "Hey, Manchurian Candidate, stop pointing that gun at me or I'll shove it up your-"

"We're good, Pyrrha. We've got bigger fish to fry." Jaune now came to Ruby's defense. Reluctantly, the Winter Soldier lowered her machine gun, and the three of them entered further into the Hydra facility.

As they cautiously walked along, none noticed Adam Taurus, the Black Panther, stalking them from the shadows. Iron Man reengaged her helmet to get some readings on the room thy were about to enter.

"I got heat signatures." Ruby warned.

"How many?" Jaune asked.

"Uh, only one." She responded, slightly surprised by the number herself.

As they entered the large testing chamber, the automatic lights came on. The many different capsules surrounding them drained of their yellow gas to reveal the 'super soldier threat' that the Captain and Pyrrha had been so fearful of. To each one of them, a bullet in their head.

"If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep." Leonardo Lionheart, the true UN bomber and the one responsible for tearing the Avenger's apart, said through a loudspeaker. "Did you really think I wanted more of you?" He notes their shock.

"What the hell…?" Pyrrha was dumbfounded.

"I'm grateful for them, though. They brought you here." Lionheart showed his face through a control room window. Jaune instantly acted by chucking his circular shield, Crocea Mors, at him. The shield harmlessly bounced back off the window without so much as a scratch. "Please, Captain. The Soviet's built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets."

"I could beat that." Ruby threatened, making Lionheart gain a dry smile.

"Oh, I'm sure you could, Ms. Rose. Given time. But then you'd never know why you came here."

"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?" The valorous Jaune accused, sickened by the needless violence.

"I thought about nothing else for over a year. I studied you, followed you. But now that you're standing here, I just realized… There's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes. How nice to find a flaw." Leonardo answered in kind.

"You're Sokovian. Is that what this is about?"

"Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell. No." Leo scoffed. "I'm here because I made a promise."

"You lost someone." The Captain instantly realized, making Lionheart sneer.

"I lost _everyone_. And so will you." With that, the bomber pushed a button from the control room, and a surveillance video of a street from December 16th, 1991 started playing. "An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumbles from within? That is dead… forever." Ruby stared at the video, mesmerized.

"I know that road. What is this?" She demanded, anxiety in her voice.

She was given no answer but the video itself.

An all too familiar car crashed into a tree. Pyrrha Nikos with her dark red hair, shining in the lamp light like blood, drove up on a motorcycle soon after. Ruby was unable to divert her eyes as the Winter Soldier walked over to the left side of the car and killed the driver, then walked around over to the right side and…

Killed Summer Rose. Her mother.

Ruby had a complicated relationship with her mother, certainly. When Ruby was but a child, Summer had been the greatest mother in the world, always attentive as willing to indulge in her daughter's imagination. But as Ruby grew older, Summer started leaning away from her own child, instead focusing her time and effort on her work.

Only a few years ago, Ruby Rose had found a hidden video from her mother, explaining her actions. She had wanted Ruby to start off in life with a strong base- the profit's of Stark Industries tripled in the last years of Summer's life- but also… Summer never stopped loving her. And while Ruby still held a grudge at her mother for the poor parenting choices she made, she still loved Summer with all her heart.

And Pyrrha Nikos had killed her.

Instantly, Ruby lunged at Pyrrha, who was standing just father away, but she didn't go far before Jaune intercepted.

"Ruby, Ruby." He tried to calm his lover. The billionaire's head whipped over to Jaune, eyes filled with tears.

"Did you know?" The ultimate question. The question she didn't want the answer to, and yet the one she already knew. Jaune couldn't lie to her, ever.

"Yes."

Ruby stepped away from Jaune, breathing ragged. She twitched slightly and engaged her helmet once more. In a sudden move, Iron Man knocked Captain America to the ground and flew towards Pyrrha. The Soldier's shots were easily deflected by Ruby's armor and Pyrrha's light machine gun flew from her hand as the metal armour slammed her onto the floor.

Ruby charged up a hand beam, but before any serious damage could be done, Crocea Mors hit into Ruby, taking her off Pyrrha long enough for the Winter Soldier to get back up. Jaune continued the assault by slamming his lover backwards again, but Iron Man simply shouldered the soldier to the floor, sending out a mechanical contraption to shackle the Captain's ankles to be ground. When she turned around again, Pyrrha returned with a hard punch to the stomach, which Ruby took with effort.

Quickly putting a stop to the potential brawl, Iron Man flew the ex up and slammed her into a nearby machine. The inventor went for a punch to the face, but Pyrrha's enhanced arm caught the blow, finally showing some of her true strength to her opponent. Ruby responded just as soon with her arm rocket that Pyrrha only barely deflected into a cement column next to them. The column fell between them both just as Jaune was able to free his feet again. Ever the peacekeeper, the Captain tried his best to get between the two fighters while Ruby was still getting up.

"Get out of here!" Captain America yelled to Pyrrha, causing her to dash away just as an energy bolt missed her head. Jaune turned around and once more stood in between his girlfriend and her target. "It wasn't her, Ruby. Hydra had control I her mind!" He pleaded for reason as the giant silo door overhead started opening from Pyrrha's button mashing.

"Move!" Ruby yelled without any mind. All her focus had been placed in Pyrrha, and not even Jaune could change that now. She activated her boot jets and tried to fly past him, but the Captain wasn't having it.

"It wasn't her!" He cried again as he caught her ankle in mid air. The Arc smashed the rocket boot with Crocea Mors, causing his lover to tumble back down to the ground.

Iron Man got up from the ground and lasered the ceiling between them, causing the rubble to separate them once more. She didn't want to hurt him, but she _wouldn't _let him get in the way.

Wobbly, she flew into the air, recommitting to the chase. Pyrrha was above her, but not out of reach. She had to jump and climb from platform to platform to escape. All Ruby had to do was go up.

"Left boot jet failing. Flight systems compromised." S.U.M.M.E.R. informed her creator with perfect timing.

"Crap." Stuttering and jerking around, she slowly managed to rise to where Pyrrha was leaping, sending a sudden shuddered kick to her stomach to prevent further ascent.

The Winter Soldier, not seeing the Attack coming, dropped like a rock on the grated platform. Iron Man aimed her hand blaster for the finish, ignoring the hard look in the redhead's eyes. Ruby fired, but the shot was blocked in the nick of time by Crocea Mors. The energy blast bounded back into her armour, causing her to drop back down to a lower platform, while the shield returned to Jaune's hands.

"She's not gonna stop. Go!" The Captain urged his long time friend as she stopped to check on him. Pyrrha gave a solemn nod and continued her climb.

Like a raging bull, Ruby regained herself and yet again tried to fly up towards Pyrrha. Jaune, now being at a higher elevation, was ready for this maneuver, though. Unlatching a grappling device from his belt, the Captain shot it around his lover's neck, jumping down to the ground and pulling her along for the ride.

Iron Man, for a second time, landed on a grated platform as she ripped the rope off her neck, Jaune landing slightly below her. As she got up, he instinctively threw his shield to stop her, but she easily deflected the attack with a hand blast, causing Crocea Mors to tumble to the ground below.

Seeing that Pyrrha was far too close to escape for comfort, Ruby decided to switch up her tactics. She revealed a small missile on her arm and tried aim for the support structure holding the large cement slab up. After the amount of damage she had taken, though, that proved to be an issue.

"Come on, come on." Ruby chanted as she watched the enemy get closer and closer to freedom.

"The targeting system has failed." S.U.M.M.E.R. informed her creator.

"I'm eyeballing it." The inventor decided, retracting her helmet and shutting one eye. Firing the missile, her aim held true. Just before Pyrrha could crawl her way out from the facility, the hatch shut close, cutting off her escape route.

The Winter Soldier armed herself with a metal pipe that happened to be on her platform as her pursuer rose to meet her. Both swings of the pipe were blocked, and Pyrrha could do nothing as Ruby got through her defenses and wrapped an armoured arm around her neck.

"Do you even remember them?" Ruby accused through her helmet's voice modulator.

"I remember _all of them_." Pyrrha insisted, shoving herself off of the ledge and allowing their cumulative weight drag them down.

Half way down, Jaune, who had been climbing up as fast as he could, jumped into the pair, splitting them from each other. Pyrrha crashed onto a platform still above, while Jaune and Ruby tumbled to the hard concrete floor. To their right, the wall opened to the snow outside and off a cliff.

"This won't change what happened, Ruby." Jaune panted, begging one last time for peace as they stood.

"I don't care. She killed my mom." Ruby retorted with no regard for the person in front of her.

The super soldier and the armoured genius traded harsh blows, each with the capacity to kill a normal man twice over. In this moment, though, Ruby's untiring suit out the clash, allowing her to pin the Captain down. At the same time, Pyrrha reoriented herself with the world, spotting Jaune's shield and leaping down from her platform to help. Pyrrha's distraction brought Jaune back to his feet, and the two veterans double teamed the inventor.

Pyrrha came down with Crocea Mors on Ruby's right, hitting a nick in the Iron Man armour. Jaune followed this with a punch to the liver, but his lover managed to catch this punch in her hand. Crocea Mors passed over the billionaire's head as she turned to aim a blast at her target, but Pyrrha delivered a heavy punch to the face, making Ruby's step back.

Jaune caught the shield and used it to break his hand free from the Iron grip, and sent another hard punch to Ruby's face. Both veterans attempted to seize the advantage by striking again, but the billionaire had seen the move coming. Reorienting herself, she fired quick shots from her hand blasters at both enemy combatants. Jaune was able to respond with Crocea Mors, but Pyrrha was hit directly in the gut, falling to her knee.

Down a teammate for just a moment, Jaune was powerless to stop the full force of the Iron Man armour from smashing him into one of the pillars leading to the outside. He crumpled to the ground as Pyrrha slammed into Ruby as retaliation, pushing her into a wall. Instantly, the Winter Soldier delivered a blow to the head, disorienting the genius long enough to grasp onto the power core of the suit with her enhanced metal arm.

One arm pinned by Pyrrha, Ruby tried with all her might to tear the woman away from the core, but it was no use. The core glowed brighter as Pyrrha's finger's dug deeper. The redhead let out a yell of determination as she fought against the armour's strength. It was nearly all over.

The bright light of the core came to a head when a massive energy beam shot forth. Pyrrha was flung backwards and to her knee once again, this time, without a metal arm. Indeed, the enhanced limb had been blown away, and before Pyrrha could digest this information, Ruby sent out a hand blast, knocking her to the ground for good.

Finally, the Captain got up, jumping in to his friend's rescue. Crocea Mors met both of Ruby's hand blasters close on, shining the cement structure in a brilliant spectacle of energy. Jaune finally cut this off when he raised his shield and kicked into the genius from underneath. Ruby was sent back against the wall, and Jaune began the process of absolutely pummeling her.

"You can't beat him hand to hand!" S.U.M.M.E.R. warned in Ruby's ears as her head was constantly hit by Jaune's fists. Indeed, there was little Ruby was able to do in terms of fighting back… Nothing except her experimental program, created for just a situation like this.

"Analyze his fight pattern!" She ordered.

"Scanning!" The AI responded. The inventor was buffeted for a few more seconds, each blow seeming like a punch a from a god- Which Ruby could certainly gage. "Countermeasures ready." The Iron Man suit automatically caught one of the Captain's fists, and Ruby allowed herself to smile.

"Let's kick his ass." She ripped the vibranium shield out of his hand and shot a blast of energy to force re soldier to fall backwards.

Like the White Knight he was, Jaune rose to continue protecting Pyrrha, sending out a bunch- but it was no use. Ruby blocked the much weaker strike, once again blasting Jaune to his knees. The Captain panted, unyielding in front of Pyrrha's body.

"She's my _friend_, Ruby." He tried one final time to cease the senseless violence. Unfortunately, he had chosen the exact wrong thing to say. Ruby's cold heart hardened even further as she brought herself to utter a response.

"And what was I?" A sense of anger and despair was evident in her voice. Jaune tried to respond, but he was cut off by a punch from Ruby, who grabbed him and threw him against the opposing wall. "Stay down, final warning." She turned back around to finally deal with Pyrrha.

"_No_." Jaune responded with a much more echoey voice. Fear stung the inventor's nerves as she turned around again to face her former teammate. His eyes glowed bright white and all his previous wounds had been healed. He had finally been put over the edge- Now his Aura had kicked in.

Aura was what made Jaune so much more than every other super soldier. Well- there were plenty of attributes that made him so much more than everyone else, but in terms of combat, Aura was the key. The initial experiment done by Summer Rose on Jaune Arc in the forties, indeed created the world's first super soldier, but it also had an unexplainable side effect known as Aura. Plenty of scientists from all corners of the Earth and all walks of life had been able to inevitably crack the super soldier code in the wake of the formation of the Avengers, but none of those experiments ever gave the recipient the Aura Jaune had. Well, until the super soldiers in this very lab, that is- And to a lesser extent, Penny.

What exactly did Aura do? Well, Ruby was about to experience the effects first hand.

With completely renewed vigor, the Captain threw a right hook at the genius. She instinctively blocked the blow with her forearm, but was shocked to see the single punch had severely dented the Iron Man armour in that spot. With her nondented arm, she rapid fired her energy blasts to slow down the behemoth. Jaune simply tanked all the shots wove his fingers between hers as she fired. Clenching his hand, the billionaire's hand cannon was rendered completely inoperational. She had also most likely broken a few fingers in the attack as well.

Seeing no other option, Ruby activated her jet boots to give herself some advantage in this fight. The Captain wasn't having any of it, though. With the damage already sustained previously, Ruby was unable to fly out of Jaune's range fast enough. Instead, he grabbed her by the torso, effortlessly lifted her over his head, and slammed her onto the cement floor. His next move was to straddle her stomach so she couldn't lift herself back up, and to start punching.

The first punch was directly to the face, knocking the Iron Man helmet straight off Ruby's face. And the next punch was directly into her chest, obliterating the core that powered her suit.

And that was it. In two punches, Iron Man had been rendered completely and utterly useless. Ruby Rose had lost.

The white glow of his aura faded and Jaune pulled himself off of his former lover to help Pyrrha up instead. No words were exchanged as the Captain made his decision, leaving Ruby, Crocea Mors, and the Avengers behind.

Once they were gone, all Ruby could do was cry.

* * *

**It has been too long! But I am finally back and ready to make some more chapters for you all. **

**I won't say anymore, as I really have nothing to say. I just hope this chapter speaks for itself and says something positive about my return.**

**Until next time,**

**-RMV**


	3. Roman's Quest

Space. The final frontier. The cosmic vacuum was almost incomprehensibly massive, yet also incomprehensibly filled. Life teamed in every corner of the galaxy, thousands of civilizations, millions of species. The odds of a specific, lone, Guardian-filled spacecraft picking up the distress signal of an Asgardian ship in the middle of the void were next to zero. And yet…

The colorful cavalcade of characters blasted through the galaxy, listening to some killer jams along the way. Roman Torchwick, also known as Starlord, sung off tune to the classic while the rest of the crew either nodded their heads or ignored the music. Despite the company, Roman was one hundred percent earthling-human, with bright ginger hair to boot. He used to be something more, but… No longer.

"Why are we doing this again?" Zwei, the talking dog-raccoon hybrid, yawned.

"It's a distress signal, Zwei. Someone could be _dying_." Cinder explained for what seemed like the thirtieth time. She was humanoid, but not an earthling. If one looked closely, they could see faint black lines tracing across her veins. They had faded, but the scars of the past never truly healed.

"No, I get that. But why are we doing it?" The animal pressed.

"Because we're good people…" Roman chimed in. "...And maybe whoever it is will give us a little _cash-ola _for our help."

"Which isn't the point." Cinder chided.

"Which isn't the point." Torchwick agreed. As the self-elected leader, he was charged with setting a good example for his team. "But if they don't pony up…"

"We take their ship!" Junior declared with glee. He was different from the rest as well, coming from a more primitive world where concepts like metaphors and sarcasm hadn't even been invented yet. The skin that contained his 'massive' muscles was littered in red marks across his boy.

"B-b-b-bingo!" Roman agreed happily. He had to set a good example, but he also needed them on board with the mission and focused on the task. And that sometimes meant stretching the truth. "'Not really.'" The Leader mouthed to a worried Cinder.

"We are arriving." Militia announced. She was the newest arrival to the group after their latest world-saving adventure. Nothing seemed off about her except for the antennae that stuck from her forehead, giving her the powers of an empath.

"Alright, Guardians. Don't forget that this might be dangerous, so let's put on or mean faces." Torchwick ordered on deaf ears. At the very least, Militia made an effort. "Neo, put that thing away." Roman directly addressed the final occupant of the ship, Neo, who was currently engrossed in her video game.

In terms of species, Neo was the odd one out, being a plant and all that. While she appeared as a normal, albeit colorful, teen girl, Neo was actually entirely plant based. Nobody knew where she came from, but they all knew that she was nearly immortal, considering only a handful of years ago, she was a fully grown plant-woman who sacrificed herself for her friends.

But that was a story for another time.

"Neo, don't make me tell you again." Roman scolded.

"I am Neo!" Neo responded with the only sentence she could say, continue to play her game. Nearly everyone- Save Militia, who still couldn't fully understand Neo- cried out indignantly at her response. With this, Zwei had enough.

"You better watch yourself, little missy, or I'm gonna smash that thing to pieces!" The hybrid snarled. Zwei had been with Neo the longest, but that didn't mean he'd go easy on her. Neo just rolled her eyes in response.

The Guardian's ship decelerated and a war zone was revealed. Pieces of ship scattered in their entire view, while the bodies took up the remaining space.

"Looks like we're no getting paid." Zwei commented half-heartedly. Just then, a thump on the ship made everyone jump in surprise, as a body was smeared onto the ship's view.

"Oh my." Militia commented while Zwei frantically looked for where the windshield wipers were at.

The body was that of a woman with short orange hair, and despite himself, Roman couldn't help but stare at the eyepatch-wearing woman with morbid curiosity.

And then her eye opened.

"Shit!"

* * *

Back inside the ship, the unconscious woman lay motionless on their examination table. If it wasn't for the steady rise and fall of her chest, Roman would guess her to surely be dead.

"How the hell is this chick still alive?" The Leader spoke what they were all thinking.

"She is not a chicken. _You_ are a chicken. This… This is a _woman_. A handsome, muscular woman." Junior corrected with the same subtlety he always had. That is to say, none.

"I'm muscular…" Roman defended.

"Torch, don't take this the wrong way- or do, I don't care- but you're practically a stick. Just look at your wiry ass." Zwei insulted.

"Wa- That doesn't mean I don't have muscle!" The earthling protested. "That's just how my muscles formed. I'm plenty muscular."

"You have gotten quite skinny since the fight with your father." Junior commented. Roman scoffed.

"That's not true! You don't think that's true, right Cinder?" Cinder ignored him and circled around to the mystery woman's left side.

"She is anxious, angry. She feels tremendous loss and guilt." Militia noted, her hands on the woman's forehead.

"It's like a pirate had a baby with an angel." Junior praised the woman before him.

"It's like his muscles are made of Cotati metal fibers." Cinder appraised the orange haired woman's arm.

"What, do you both have a crush on her?" Roman joked at their seeming obsession. Cinder simply rolled her eyes and dropped the arm, but Junior took on a more thought provoking look.

"She is indeed attractive to me, but I may not take another mate until I have successfully avenged my last one and our children. That is the way of my people."

"Right… Sorry." Torchwick backpedaled from the joke. "Uh, Militia, wake her up."

"Wake." Militia complied easily, her hands still on the subject's forehead.

As soon as the word was spoken, chaos ensued. The woman woke with a start, sitting straight up and then throwing herself off the examination table. Taking a breath, she steadied herself and rose to her feet, turning around to see each of the Guardians ready to fight- Besides Neo, who continued to play her game unfazed.

"Who the hell are you guys?"

* * *

Being the generous folk they were, the Guardians equipped Nora with a blanket and a bowl of soup to cope with the astounding loss she had just faced. Nothing could replace the hole in her heart that Salem created when she killed Renny… But the soup wasn't half bad.

"The entire time I knew Salem, she only ever had one goal: To bring balance to the Universe by wiping out half of all life. She used to kill people planet by planet, massacre by massacre…" Cinder revealed as Nora stared at her.

"Including my own." Junior chimed in.

"If she gets her hands on all six Infinity Relics, she can do it with the snap of her fingers, like this." For emphasis and example, Cinder snapped, sending a chill down everyone's spine.

"You seem to know a great deal about Salem." The goddess of thunder noticed, tracing the faded black veins exposed on Cinder's body.

"Cinder… is the daughter of Salem." Junior confessed, though the moment was inopportune.

"Your mother killed my lover." Nora snarled, dropping the soup and walking over to Cinder aggressively. The daughter of Salem stood strong in her positions unflinching as the sins of the past seemingly rushed to greet her. At the same time, Roman stepped in to try and fix up the mess.

"Stepmother, technically. And she hates her as much as you do." The Leader of the Guardians explained as Nora got in Cinder's face. Then, however, the Asgardian's face softened.

"Families can be tough." Nora gripped Cinder's shoulder. "Before my father died, he told me I had a half-sister that he imprisoned in Hel. Then she came back from Hel and stabbed me in the eye, so I had to kill her. But that's life, isn't it? I guess. Goes round and round and… I feel you pain." They shared a moment of understanding together before Nora's eyebrows came together. "What am I doing? I need a hammer."

The goddess disengaged Cinder and hobbled over to the other side of the ship. There, she fumbled around with the machinery and buttons, plugging in all different combinations on the keypad.

"Uh… what are you doing?" Roman confronted, a curious expression on his face.

"Taking your pod." She responded simply.

"Uh, _no_. You're _not_. This is _my_ ship and _my_ pod. You're not going anywhere with it."

"Are you trying to stand in the way of my destiny?" Nora challenged, straightening out and stepping closer to Roman.

"Are _you_ trying to steal my pod?" Roman retorted, not breaking a sweat.

"Enough with this." Cinder pulled through. "We _need_ to stop Thanos, regardless of who gets the pod. Which means, we _need_ to know where he's going next."

"Knowhere." The thunder goddess responded instantly.

"He must be going _somewhere_." Zwei objected.

"No. _Knowhere_. It's a place. We've been there before. It sucks." Roman recognized as Nora started digging through their food.

"Nora, why would she go to Knowhere?" Cinder tried obtain some concrete information from the guarded warrior.

"Because for years, the Relic of Reality has been safely stored there with a man we call the Collector.

"Well, if it's with the Collector, then it's not safe. Only an idiot would give that man a Relic." Torchwick criticized lightly.

"Or a genius." Nora instantly rebutted. Cinder continued to ignore those small moments.

"How do you know she's not going for one of the other Relics?"

"There are six relics out there. Salem already has the Relic of Power because he stole it last week when he decimated Xandar. He stole the Relic of Space from me when he destroyed my ship and slaughtered half my people. The Relics of Time and Mind are safe on Earth, since they're with the Avengers."

"The Avengers?"

"They're Earth's mightiest heroes." Nora claimed offhandedly, still ravaging the Guardians' ship for supplies.

"Like Spruce Willis?" Militia asked innocently.

"Uh, He may be on the team. I don't know. Haven't been there in a while." The Avenger admitted before continuing. "As for the Relic of Soul, well, no one's ever seen that. No one even knows where it is. Therefore, Salem _can't _get it. Hence, she'll be getting the Reality Stone."

"Then we have to go to Knowhere now." Cinder decided.

"Wrong. Where we have to go, is Nidavellir."

"That's made up word!" Junior called out.

"All words are made up." Nora rebutted instantly, blowing Junior's mind.

"Hold up. Nidavellir is real? Seriously?!" Zwei questioned, getting excited. "That place is a legend! They make the most powerful, horrific, weapons to ever torment the Universe! I would very much like to go there, please."

"The puppy is correct, and is clearly the smartest among you."

"Puppy?" Zwei questioned, affronted. Nora didn't notice.

"Only Yatsuhashi can forge the weapon I need." She turned to Zwei. "I assume you're the captain, sir?" The raccoon-dog smiled at the False compliment.

"You got that right." He said slightly sarcastically.

"You seem like a noble leader." The goddess of Thunder did not notice the tone of voice. "Will you join me on my quest to Nidavellir?"

"Hell yeah! Let's get some weapons!"

"_Weapon_, not plural." Nora corrected. "But it's alright. One weapon is _all I need_."

"What kind of weapon are we talking here?" Zwei inquired.

"The 'Salem-Killing' kind."

"Shouldn't we all have weapons like that?" Roman perked back up. "Seems useful."

"No." Nora instantly shut the idea down. "You simply lack the strength to wield them. Your bodies would crumble as your mind would collapse to madness."

"Is it weird that I want to do it even _more _now?" The pseudo-animal questioned aloud.

"Kinda, yeah." The asgardian nodded.

"If we don't go to Knowhere and Salem retrieves another Relic, she'll be too powerful to stop." Cinder reasoned.

"Well, we got two ships and a large assortment of morons. Me and Neo can go with the pirate-angel here to get a cool weapon, while you morons can go to Knowhere to try and stop Salem. Cool? Cool." Zwei assembled the plan within moments.

"So cool." Nora assented with a smile. Roman simply rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. For the record, I know you're only going with her because that's where Salem _isn't_, Zwei." The _real_ Captain pointed out.

"Whatever you say, Torchwick. I'll see you morons on the other side." The dog-raccoon said goodbye to his friends in his own unique way. "Come on, Neo. Put that game down, you'll rot your brain."

"Good luck and farewell, morons." Nora added as she, Zwei, and Neo piled into the ship. The rest of the Guardians waved as the ship blasted off into space.

* * *

**Scenes from Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2**

* * *

The ceremonial regent chamber was exquisitely designed, symmetrical across the center as matching numbers of golden Sovereign guards lined each meticulously designed wall. In the middle of the beauty, however, five idiots stood proud. They waited for their reward in defeating the Sovereign's alien threat without any shame- the one called 'Junior' even picked his nose.

"We thank you, Guardians, for putting your life on the line." Ayesha, the high priestess of the Sovereign began delicately. "We could not risk the lives of our own Sovereign citizens. Every citizen is born exactly as designed by the community, impeccable, both physically and mentally. We control the DNA of our progeny, germinating then in birthing pods." This history lesson she has was standard affair for dealing with foreigners, designed by the Sovereign's top psychologists to intimidate and assert superiority over the outsider. Unfortunately, the Sovereign's tip psychologists did not have the _Guardians_ in mind when thinking of their speech.

"I guess I prefer making people the Old-fashioned way." Roman Torchwick, the self-professed leader of the group, flirted slyly. To the surprise of the many attendants surrounding the High Priestess, it seemed to be working.

"Well… perhaps someday you could give me a history lesson in the… 'archaic ways' of our ancestors. For academic purposes, of course." Ayesha continued the courtship.

"Well, I mean, if it's for _research_ that could be pretty-" The charmer was cut off by perhaps the only serious member of the group- and certainly the most dangerous- Cinder, daughter of Salem.

"Enough with this." She told Roman off sternly, who had the decency to look abashed about the whole ordeal. Turning to Ayesha, Cinder requested what the Guardians has rightfully earned. "Your people promised something in trade for our services. Bring it, and we shall _gladly_ be on our way."

"Very well." The High Priestess agreed, slightly annoyed at the interruption. She nodded to the soldiers to her left, and they exited to bring back the reward.

The golden soldiers returned with a woman, dressed in a cloak and shackled by her wrists and ankles. In the customary dramatic fashion of the Sovereign, the woman was dropped to her knees and hood was yanked back. Glaring at Cinder with one robotic eye, the dark skinned, mint haired, cyborg, Emerald, was revealed. The two sisters said nothing, but their contempt was obvious for each other in their shared glares.

"Awkward…" Roman quipped quietly.

"I understand she is your sister?" Ayesha asserted in an almost threatening tone. Her question was answered as Cinder roughly picked her sister off the ground, dragging her back to the ship.

"She's worth no more to me than the bounty due for her on Xandar." The pale killer claimed, not even bothering to look back at the High Priestess. Said High Priestess nodded.

"Our soldiers apprehended her attempting to steal the batteries. Do with her as you please." Ayesha granted.

"Thank you, High Priestess Ayesha. Until we meet again." Roman went to depart with a wink, the rest of the Guardians turning to fall behind Cinder.

"What is your heritage, Mr. Torchwick?" Ayesha suddenly asked before he could leave.

"…My mother is from Earth." The 'Starlord' started, clearly uncomfortable with the question.

"And your father?" Ayesha pushed.

"He's... not from Missouri, that's all I know." The Priestess stared at him, but while before the stare was filled with something close to lust, now there was only disgust.

"I see within you, an unorthodox genealogy. A particularly _reckless_ hybrid of species." Roman did not deign the golden Sovereign with a response, but Zwei certainly did.

"You know, they told me you people were conceited douchebags. But that isn't true at _all_." The raccoon-dog hybrid said sarcastically, grinning wide and winking in full view of the entire chamber. The rest of the Guardians shifted in their spots uncomfortably, eyeing the Sovereign guards for any kind of reaction. "Oh shit, you all saw that, didn't you?" Zwei addresses the crowd before looking to Ayesha. "My apologies, that was meant to be behind our back."

Junior yanked Zwei away, and the tension slowly released as the Guardians walked away. Junior set the animal hybrid down as they walked a few paces behind Cinder and Roman, ignoring the harsh stares of the Sovereign.

"Consider yourself blessed that they didn't kill you." The red marked warrior noted to Zwei's immense pleasure.

"You're telling me. You wanna buy some batteries?" The dog-raccoon grinned and flashed the golden, glowing, Anulax batteries hidden in his bag. Junior laughed aloud as Zwei shushed him with a conspiratorial smirk.

* * *

Despite Zwei's sneaky dealings, the Sovereign were quickly made aware of their battery shortage and launched a full scale attack on the fleeing Guardian cruiser. Taking evasive action, the Guardians attempted to navigate through a Quantum Asteroid Field to reach a jump point. The flight was… bumpy, to say the least, but they made their way through the field nonetheless.

Unfortunately, the Sovereign fleet was waiting for the cruiser on the other end of Asteroid Field, nearly blowing the group to smithereens. Keyword being 'nearly,' as miraculously, the Guardians made the jump and successfully crash landed on the planet they arrived at.

"Either one of you could have gotten us through that field, if you had flown with what's between your ears instead of what's between your legs!" Cinder scolded the pair of pilots, Roman and Zwei, who's fighting had almost ruined their chances of survival.

"If what's between my legs had a hand in it, I guarantee I could have landed this ship better than him." Roman replied instantly with his infamous one liners.

"You're not being funny, Roman. We almost died because of your arrogance!" The pale warrior shot back. The human hybrid reeled in disbelief.

"My arrogance?! More like because _he_ stole he Anulax batteries!" Torchwick glared at Zwei.

"Do you know _why_ I did it, 'Star-Munch?'" Zwei questioned. Starlord looked at the animal with contempt.

"_Why_?"

"I did it because I wanted to!" The 'leader' looked away.

"Dick." Roman muttered under his breath. Zwei ignored him.

"What are we even talking about this for? We just had a little man save us by blowing up fifty ships!"

"How little?" Junior inquired.

"Like this." The dog-raccoon informed, holding his finger and thumb about an inch apart.

"A little one-inch man saved us?" Cinder scoffed.

"Well, I'm sure if he got closer he'd be much larger." Zwei defended, crossing his arms.

"That's how eyesight works, you stupid animal." Torchwick commented snidely.

"Don't call me an animal!" The hybrid rounded back on him, snarling.

"Whatever." Roman blew off. At the same moment, Emerald looked to the sky.

"Someone followed you through the jump point." The cyborg noted, looking to the giant spaceship hovering above them. Instantly, playtime was over, and the Guardians drew their weapons and fell back to back. All except Emerald.

"Set me free, you'll need my help." The daughter of Salem pleaded to her sister as the unknown ship approached closer.

"I'm not an idiot, Emerald." Cinder shot back as her only response.

"You're an idiot if you deprive yourself a hand in combat." The dark skinned woman reasoned.

"You'd attack me the moment I'd let you go."

"No I wouldn't…" Emerald mumbled unconvincingly.

"You'd think an evil super villain would learn how to lie properly." Roman chuckled.

"I bet it's the one-inch man!" Junior helpfully added as the ship started to land. All around, trees were crushed into the ground, and when the hovering craft finally settled, the main hatch opened up.

Out from the ship stepped two distinct figures. One seemed to be a normal human female, except for the two antennae that stuck out of her head. The other seemed to be an adventurer, happily smiling through his well trimmed, thick beard.

"After all these years, I've finally found you." The bearded man claimed with a smile.

"Who the hell are you?" Roman engaged carefully, assuming his leadership role.

"I figured my rugged good looks would make that obvious… My name's Ego. And I'm your Dad, Roman."

* * *

"So I guess this could all be mine someday." Torchwick commented, looking out to the beautiful landscape beyond his balcony as the songs of his people played. Cinder stood with him, ignoring the scenery to mess with a communication device.

The Guardians has decided to split themselves after the revelation that Roman's father dropped on them. Junior and Cinder would accompany Roman with his father while Neo an Zwei would stay back on the ship with Emerald. The black haired warrior was reluctant to abandon her sister with Zwei, but the opportunity for Roman to meet his father was just too good to pass up. Cinder had insisted upon it.

She regretted that decision now. This place… It wasn't right. Something was going on behind the scenes and it seemed _she _would be the only one with enough wit to get to the bottom of it all.

"Zwei, are you there? Come in, Zwei!" Cinder called into the device before giving up. With a smile on his face and a song in his heart, Roman waltzed over behind the pale warrior and wrapped his hands around her waist.

"Don't worry about the stupid animal, Cinder. Just dance with me, and everything will be alright." He claimed with confidence.

"I'm not-"

"Come on. We're listening to an Earth classic here! Just give me this." Seeing no other way to get through to the man, Cinder reluctantly engaged him. They easily danced in unison together with the beat, but the daughter of Salem's sour face did not disappear.

"This place isn't right, Roman." She hit the nail on the head directly. His smile didn't falter for a second.

"What are you on about? Need I remind you who wanted me to come here in the first place?" Starlord quipped.

"I don't need to be reminded of my mistakes, Torchwick." She spoke hotly. "You're better than anyone at smelling bullshit when it arises, how can you not be worried right now?!"

"I thought I smelled it, but then you convinced me to give my dad a chance, and I realized the smell was simply the demons of my past. You were _right_. I'm man enough to admit it." At this, Cinder disconnected from him and stalked into his room.

"That girl, Militia. She's afraid of something." Roman walked in after her, starting to get annoyed.

"Why are you trying to take this away from me?" Roman accused, but Cinder rounded on him.

"Don't you get it?! There's nothing to take away! This place isn't _real_."

"This _is_ real." The Leader of the Guardians insisted. "I'm only half human, remember?"

"That's the half I'm worried about." She muttered, yet Roman caught wind of it.

"Oh, I get it. You're jealous because I'm part god! You always loved me better when I was the weak one!"

Cinder looked away and started fumbling with the communication device again, ignoring the comment. As much as she loathed to admit it, there was a part of her that absolutely hated the idea of anyone being stronger than her- _especially_ Roman. But it would do them no good to indulge in that aspect of herself now.

"Ugh. You were insufferable even before you were a god." Cinder deflected. "I haven't been able to reach Zwei. I'm going to see if I can get a signal outside." She marched out, but was stopped by Roman's final call.

"I can't believe you! I finally found my family and you can't be happy for me?" Looking to him with soul piercing eyes, Cinder spoke the words that sent a lance through his heart.

"I though _we_ were your family, Roman."

* * *

Cinder, as always, was right- Though Roman hated to admit it this time. His father, Ego, was a horrible murderer who planted cancer in his mother's brain and killed the rest of his children. When he saw how Roman reacted to the truth, the godly being then attempted to chain Roman up as a battery.

The leader of the Guardians was only freed by the intervention of his frien- _family_, and together they came up with the plan to end Ego the planet for good. The plan wasn't perfect, though- The main flaw being that Roman was required to stay on the planet during its destruction in order to distract his father long enough for the bomb to go off and for everyone else to escape.

Roman Torchwick wasn't ready to die, but he owed as much to each and every member of his family that he'd spurned during his time with his father. Maybe they'd remember his death fondly and later forgive him for his arrogance.

He could only hope.

Starlord and Ego were kneeling across from each other in the center of the planet, having just finished yet another round of godly battling. The bomb in the core of the planet was thirty seconds from exploding, and both of them knew it.

Ego hesitated for a moment, then jumped towards the core. Instantly, Roman was on his father, pulling him back to their platform.

"We need to stop it, you idiot!" The celestial cried in distress. "Don't you get if? You are a _god_! If you kill me, you'll be just like everyone else!" At this, Roman gave his classic smirk.

"And what's so wrong with that?"

"No-!" The core exploded, and Ego's words were cut in his throat as he dissolved into nothingness in his son's arms.

* * *

**This chapter has been two months in the making. As always, life got in the way. But its out now, and more chapters should hopefully be on the way soon.**

**As I have said previously, this is not a full rewrite of Infinity War. However, some reviewers have pointed out that it's not so much RWBY characters doing RWBY things in the Avengers universe, but rather Avengers Characters doing their thing in their own universe. For the most part, I have to concede this point. This story was mainly inspired by all of the Reaction stories popping up nowadays, where the RWBY characters are simply inserted into key scenes in whatever series is up to bat.**

**I won't deny that this is the case, but I will also say that it's not entirely as Black and White as you may think. For instance, I've already established Iron Man and Captain America's romantic relationship, as with 'Thor' and 'Loki.' Conversely, I have removed Starlord and Gamora's relationship, which we'll see later on. When it comes to writing, I am someone who enjoys adding in small pieces to effect a larger whole. So trust me when I say that things won't go how you think they will. These differences will add up.**

**Also, I apologize if I skip back into Thanos instead of Salem or any other name like that. I've watched this movie so much that some of the lines just come naturally and I don't even notice.**

**Until next time,**

**-RMV**


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